Chapter Twenty-One: To Die Without Regrets

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[After acting as a formidable warrior to your heart's content, looking at the "spinning tops" scattered across the floor, you can only feel that this is how a man should live!]

[Wielding the power of the world while awake, sleeping on the laps of beauties while drunk?]

[No, that is not what you pursue. What you pursue is actually very simple: to live this life with spirit and freedom!]

[As the saying goes, freedom is not doing whatever you want, but being able to refuse whatever you do not want to do.]

[Therefore, the freedom you desire is not the unrestrained indulgence of a Homelander, but a life free from grievance and frame-ups. If anyone dares to force you to do something you dislike, you will smash their dog head in!]

[If you were an ordinary person, you would have to endure oppression silently to survive in this complex society, just like all the common people in the world. Unless pushed to the brink of death, they would swallow any amount of suffering rather than fight to the bitter end...]

[But you are different. You have no fear of death, nor do you have many concerns. Because you are a transmigrator with a "restart" golden finger, death cannot truly take your life. It only forces you into a cycle of reincarnation, and every time you return, you become stronger than before!]

[Although you are not sure if you can eventually topple the God-Emperor from his throne, at least you don't have to compromise yourself. When you encounter things that go against your morals and beliefs, you just rush forward.]

[Just as when you faced your master using you to cheat people of money, you chose to report him without hesitation, risking your life for your beliefs even when you didn't know you could restart... Now that you know, what reason is there not to fight and uphold your life philosophy?]

[At this moment, although you have neither obtained some legendary cultivation technique nor embarked on an ethereal path to immortality, you have found your own "Dao"!]

[The foundation of the Great Dao has been officially laid!]

[However, as the saying goes, every gift in the world has already been marked with a price. Since you have used the power and influence of others to satisfy yourself, you must now pay the corresponding price, and that price is your life...]

[...]

[When you returned to Xi'an Prefecture from Mizhi County with the white-armored soldiers and the arrested officials, you encountered this scene in the prison.]

[In several adjacent cells, prisoners were held. Though they looked different, they all possessed an aura that made one dare not look directly at them. Even in prison, they were not willing to bow their heads easily...]

[A few Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) were interrogating one of them with great interest: "Liu Yizhao, will you confess or not?"]

[The prisoner called "Liu Yizhao" was none other than the high-ranking official who once held absolute power in Shaanxi—the then-serving Provincial Administration Commissioner!]

[It is just that this Commissioner can no longer command the wind and rain as he once did. Even with his formidable divine strength capable of breaking an army single-handedly, he can only sit trapped in a square inch of space, being interrogated in a filthy cell...]

[The Commissioner was the first to be arrested, and he received the strictest interrogation!]

[But in the face of the Jinyiwei's questioning, he remained silent...]

["Criminal Liu Yizhao! Listen!" the Jinyiwei rebuked.]

["I am listening."]

[The Commissioner finally spoke.]

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[A Jinyiwei laughed: "Liu Yizhao, I don't care if you confess or not. You have only two paths: either admit to conspiring with the rebel Chuang to overthrow the Ming and restore the Shun, or admit to corruption totaling twenty million taels... Pick one."]

[Hearing this, the Commissioner said with disdain: "Conspiring to overthrow the Ming means the execution of nine generations, and corruption means being skinned and stuffed with straw... It's death either way, what's the difference?"]

["You pack of carrion-eating wild dogs, aren't you just trying to use me as a stepping stone? Every time there is a problem in the region, you have to drag a high-ranking official into it. I've seen this trick too many times!"]

["My official stance remains the same..."]

[He suddenly shouted aloud: "Heaven sees all! Heaven sees all! When one wants to condemn, there is no lack of excuses!"]

[For a moment, his aura of integrity made him seem like Yue Fei at Fengbo Pavilion, making the petty villains dare not look at him!]

[But... the Jinyiwei burst out laughing: "Do you really think you're Yue Fei? Then how do you explain the twenty million taels of silver and various gold, jade, jewelry, calligraphy, and antiques in your side chamber?"]

[The Commissioner: ...]

["I... I was just afraid of being poor. Besides... those were all voluntary tokens of gratitude from the people for my administrative achievements. I couldn't bear to let down their kindness, so I kept them for safekeeping... I didn't dare spend a single tael..."]

[The Commissioner's momentum instantly deflated, but he continued to bluster, spouting nonsense that he himself likely didn't believe...]

[Just then, the Jinyiwei saw you returning from escorting the prisoners and beckoned you over with a smile.]

["Liu Yizhao, I won't hide it from you. The reason we were able to drag you all into this is thanks to him! If you hadn't offended him, we probably wouldn't have set our sights on you..."]

[Hearing this, not only did the Commissioner stare at you, but the other Prefects also turned their surprised and suspicious gazes toward you, wondering who you were.]

[But no matter how they looked, you were just an ordinary five-year-old child, which left them even more confused...]

["Little friend, may I ask your name? And how did I offend you?" the Commissioner asked, frowning first.]

[Facing this high-ranking official whom ordinary people would rarely see in a lifetime, you thought you would be nervous or furious. But when he explicitly stated he didn't know you, you just wanted to laugh.]

[After all this, what was a Juren degree worth anyway? How could the Commissioner possibly have an impression of an ant he could crush at will?]

[So, you told him with a smile about your examination papers being swapped, and then...]

["Just because of this?!"]

[The Commissioner was stunned, his face shifting between shades of green and red... eventually, he laughed in anger: "Just because your Juren degree was swapped, you held a grudge against me, then deliberately framed me as a rebel, and wanted to put me to death?!"]

[You nodded.]

["Then why didn't you report it to the Xi'an Prefect? If you had reported it..."]

[You replied casually: "I did. They were very efficient. The Xi'an Prefect's clerk threatened me to shut up on the spot!"]

[The Xi'an Prefect on the side: ...]

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[The Commissioner glared fiercely at the bewildered Xi'an Prefect, then asked persistently: "Then you should have come directly to me! Since the autumn examinations, I've been busy in the Administration Commission office drafting the list of successful candidates. If you had come to me, wouldn't I have..."]

[You spread your hands: "I did that too. Your efficiency was even higher—the two guards at the door wouldn't even let me into the office!"]

[The Commissioner: ...]

[The Xi'an Prefect: amused!]

[The Hanzhong Prefect: amused!]

[The Pingliang Prefect: amused!]

[...]

[The Northern Shaanxi Prefect: not amused...]

[The Northern Shaanxi Prefect "Zhu Xuan" widened his eyes: "What does that have to do with me?! Kid, I remember you! I even gave you an award! This is returning kindness with ingratitude!"]

[You didn't care: "There isn't a single clean person in the Shaanxi officialdom. I'll just have you all arrested; consider it acting on behalf of Heaven."]

[The Northern Shaanxi Prefect: #%@%#!!!]

[...]

[After a long time, the Commissioner said hoarsely: "Kid, I admit you have your reasons... but you will definitely regret this choice today!"]

["Do you think the Jinyiwei are good people? Do you think they really uphold justice for the people? You are wrong. They are just a pack of carrion-eating wild dogs. Wherever there is something to eat, they go... They will eventually bite you to death!"]

[In front of the Jinyiwei, he offered this "sincere advice."]

[The Jinyiwei: amused!]

[You nodded: "I know, so I won't trouble them to frame me."]

[Then, to everyone's astonishment, you walked into a cell in the distance and said loudly: "I have already reported all of you, and now I want to report myself!"]

["I, too, am an accomplice of the rebel Chuang!"]

...